Bookcase unit



Oct. 14, 1941. N. 1.,GARRISON BOOKCASE UNIT Filed Sept. 27,- 1940 INVENTOR JQ afi I Gar 'rzson/ rrNssszs I V BY i 711% W ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 14, 1941 BOOKCASE UNIT Nijah I. Garrison, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Application September 27, 1940, Serial No. 358,641

12 Claims.

This invention relates to bookcases and particularly to an improved bookcase or book unit, an object being to provide a construction wherein the door is adapted to move substantially vertically when opening or closing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drop-door bookcase unit, wherein the parts are so formed that the door will be completely out of the way when the unit is open and completely closing the front of the unit when the door is closed.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a door structure for bookcases which may be applied to a unit when used alone or as part of a bookcase wherein means are provided for causing easy actuation of the door to an open or closed position,

In the accompanying drawing- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bookcase unit or bookcase body disclosing an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the structure shown in Fig. 1 when the door is closed;

Fig. 3 is a topplan View of the unit shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the door closed and the coil spring unwound;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through Fig. 3 approximately on the line 4--4.

Referring to the accompanying drawing by numerals, l indicates a bookcase unit or body which is formed so that it may be stacked in connection with other units of the same shape. The particular construction of the unit forms no part of the present invention but only the door 2 and parts associated therewith at the front of the unit body I. The unit body I is provided with end members 3 and 4, which are identical except that they are right and left. A description of one end will apply to both ends.

As illustrated in the drawing, 5 indicates a runway which is provided with a deep portion 6 and a shallow portion 1. A rod or shaft 8 is positioned so that its ends will extend into the deep portions 6 of the respective end members 3 and 4. A rack is arranged in the shallow portion 1 of each of the end members and each rack 9 coacts with a gear l rigidly secured to the shaft 8. A coil spring H is loosely coiled around the shaft 8 and has the end l2 rigidly secured to the shaft and end I3 rigidly secured to a bracket l4. Bracket M is L-shaped and bracket is of identical shape. As shown in Fig, 4, bracket I4 is provided with a loop portion I6 which forms an opening or outlet loosely sur- Cal rounding the shaft 8 and preferably the leg I! of bracket 14 is looped to form an opening or outlet l6, while the leg I8 is secured by screws or other fastening means to the upper portion IQ of door 2. Door 2 is shown as being provided'with a wooden frame and a glass panel carried there by. However, the door could be made entirely of wood, or made in any other way without departing from the spirit of the invention. By reason of the way in which the brackets l4 and 15 are mounted, the door 2 is spacedoutwardly from the racks 9, so that when the door is in proper place it closes the front opening of the unit I, as shown in Fig. 2. a

The outer surface of the door 2 is flush with the front edge of the unit I, but when the knob 25 is grasped and the lower part of the door is swung out a short distance, as for instance approximately an inch, the door may then be allowed to drop down to the position shown in Fig. 1. As the door moves downwardly the upper end is forced out of the unit by the inclined formation of the. runway 5, so that when the brackets strike the bottom boar-d 2| of unit I, the upper edge portion E9 of the door will be completely outside the unit I and the brackets will rest on the board 2!. The board 2| is provided with a groove 22 which receives the shaft 8 and also the coil spring ll, whereby there is no obstruction at the front of the unit. This will allow books of substantially the same height as the interior of the unit to be moved'into and out of the unit without difiiculty. In this way there is no lost space in the unit as the books may practically touch the top and bottom of the unit and yet slide freely inwardly and outwardly. When the door is closed, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the respective gears lil fit into the respective notches 23 in the superimposed unit.

From Fig. 3 it will be observed that the gears I 0 and associated parts are, in a certain sense, embedded in the respective ends 3 and 4 and the shaft 8 is substantially embedded in the groove 22 when the door is open. From this it will readily be seen that no part of the door supports takes up any space in the unit I, though the door itself takes up an inch at the front in a full-size structure.

This provision of a door which drops downwardly for opening the unit instead of swinging upwardly, permits a number of the units to be stacked and arranged in a room to occupy a mini mum space and, consequently, provides a maximum shelving for books and the like. Also in View of the fact that the door drops downwardly instead of moving into the top of the unit, a unit of less height is permitted, while, at the same time, accommodating the desired size of books. Also by reason of the structure set forth, the unit I may be assembled with similar units having drop doors or may be assembled with similar units having upwardly swinging doors.

It will be noted that the coil spring, as shown in the drawing, has the stationary end attached to a bracket but, if desired, it could be attached directly to the door.

The gears lil rotate in cooperation with the racks 9 as the door 2 drops to open position, thereby turning the shaft 8 which winds the spring I I and puts it under tension. The spring tension acts as a counterbalance to the weight of the door in dropping to its open position and is an aid in the upward movement of the door to its closed position.

It will also be noted that when the door 2 is in its open position it may be swung therefrom on the shaft 8 as a pivot into a position above the bottom 2| as shown in Fig. 2, instead of running the gears l along the racks 9. This enables a person to quickly move the door of a unit below to an open position.

I claim:

1. A drop-door bookcase unit comprising a casing having a bottom, top, end walls and a rear wall, a door for the front of the casing, and means whereby the door is mounted on the unit, said means including a rod for pivotally supporting the door and surfaces inclined forwardly and downwardly for guiding the rod in an up-anddown movement near the front of the casing whereby said door when closed will rest on said bottom but may be swung outwardly until it is free of the bottom and then moved downwardly until the entire front of the casing is exposed.

2. A drop-door bookcase unit including a cas ing having at each end a runway, at door for closing said casing, a rotatable rod having its ends extending into said runways, a bracket adjacent each end of said rod, said brackets each having an end surrounding said rod and means for rigidly securing said brackets to the upper edge portion of said door, said brackets being formed to offset said door from said rod and said runways each being inclined forwardly and downwardly whereby when the door is closed it will be in a plane parallel to the front of the unit and resting on the bottom of the unit, said brackets and door being adapted to swing outwardly at the bottom until the door clears the bottom of the unit and then to move downwardly until the front of the unit is fully open.

3. A drop-door bookcase unit including a casing body open at the front and provided at the ends with facing runways, a rack arranged adjacent each runway, a gear meshing with each rack, a shaft extending through said gears into said runways, said gears being rigidly secured to said shaft, an L-shaped bracket near each gear, each of said brackets having a tubular portion rotatably mounted on said shaft, a coil spring surrounding said shaft with one end rigidly secured to said shaft and the other end secured to one of said brackets, a door for the open part of said casing body, and means for securing one leg of each of said L-shaped brackets rigidly to the upper edge portion of said door, said casing body having a groove in the bottom merging at its ends into said runways whereby when said door is swung outwardly at the bottom a short distance and then lowered said spring will be wound and said shaft will move into said groove for fully exposing the interior of the casing body.

4. A drop-door bookcase unit as set forth in claim 3, characterized by forming each of said runways with a shallow portion and a deep portion, said deep portions receiving the ends of said shaft, and said rack being located in the shallow portions.

5. A drop-door bookcase unit as set forth in claim 3, characterized by a notch in the lower surface of each end of the unit for accommodating the gears of the next unit below when the door is in closed position.

6. A drop-door bookcase unit including a casing body open at the front and provided at its ends with runways inclined so that the bottom thereof will be closer to the front edge of the easing body than the top, each of said runways having a deep portion and a shallow portion, a rack arranged adjacent each of said shallow portions, a gear continually meshing with each of said racks, a shaft extending through and rigidly secured to said gears and extending into said deep portions of said runways for guiding the shaft in its movement, an L-shaped bracket adjacent each end of said shaft, each of said brackets having on one leg a tubular portion loosely surrounding said shaft, a door having its upper edge portion rigidly secured to the other leg of each of said L-shaped brackets which spaces said upper edge away from said shaft, a coil spring loosely surrounding said shaft with one end rigidly secured to said shaft and the other end secured to one of said brackets whereby when said door is lowered said spring will be wound, the incline of said runways causing the upper edge portion of said door to move outwardly as it is lowered so that it will be free of the bottom of the casing body, said casing body being formed with a groove in the bottom to receive said shaft when the door is lowered whereby the front opening will be free of obstructions so that books substantially the full height of the unit may be readily inserted and removed.

7. A drop-door bookcase unit including a casing body open at the front and provided at the ends with runways each of which is inclined forwardly and downwardly, a rack arranged adjacent each runway, a gear meshing with each rack, a shaft on which each gear is rigidly secured, the opposite ends of said shaft being disposed in said runways respectively, L-shaped brackets having bearing means through which said shaft loosely extends, a door for the open front of said body, said brackets being rigidly secured to the upper edge portion of the door, said brackets serving to pivotally connect said door with said shaft, whereby when said door is swung outwardly at the bottom a short distance and then lowered said shaft will move in said runways and said gears cooperating with said racks will rotate said shaft until said door is in its open position fully exposing the interior of the casing body, and means connected with said shaft serving as a counterbalance to the weight of the door in dropping to its open position.

8. A drop-door bookcase unit as set forth in claim 7, wherein the brackets rest on the bottom of said body to suspend the door in its open position.

9. A drop-door bookcase unit as set forth in claim 7, wherein said means serving as a counterbalance consists of a coil spring having one end connected with one of said brackets and its other end connected with said shaft.

10. A drop-door bookcase unit as set forth in claim '7, wherein the brackets rest on the bottom of said body to suspend the door in its open position and enable the door to be swung on said shaft from its open position to a position above said bottom.

11. A drop-door bookcase unit comprising a casing body having an open front and a bottom, a door which in its closed position in said open front has its lower end resting on said bottom, means connecting the upper end of said door with said body for movement to the closed and open position and so that the door may pivot out of its closed position to clear the forward edge of said bottom and then drop under its own weight to its open position fully clear of said open front, and means coacting with said first mean to counterbalance the weight of the door as it drops to its open position.

12. A drop-door bookcase unit as set forth in claim 11 in which the door may pivot out of its open position to a position above said bottom by virtue of said connecting means.

NIJAH I. GARRISON. 

